Apparatus for making pile fabrics



Feb. 1 2, 1957 R. THOMPSON APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILE FABRICS Filed March 17, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Feb. 12, 1957 R. L. THOMPSON 2,781,007

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS 1 Filed March 17, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 2 IN ENTOR.

aw; almmmi 1 1957 R. L. THOMPSON 2,781,007

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS 3 She etsSheet 3 Filed March 17, 1953 F/G 0 INVENTOR J KM 72w. ame; 21% 1 ited dtates ATPARATUS FOR MAKTN G PILE FABRICS This invention relates to pile fabrics, in which desirable surface effects are obtained by forming the pile of loops of different heights arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows, each of which contains a full complement of loops. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel pile fabric, the loops of which are of many more heights than those of prior similar fabrics and are arranged in cycles extending both lengthwise and crosswise of the fabric. The new fabric is of the sewn variety, that is, it comprises a fabric backing sheet and pile yarns passed through the sheet by needles in tufting operations, and the invention includes a novel method of producing the fabric and a new tufting machine for practicing the method.

Pile fabrics with a pile made of loops of different height have ordinarily been made heretofore on pile wire looms, in which the pile wires have spoons at the end inserted into the warp shed during the weaving operation or else have wavy upper surfaces, so that they vary in height from end to end. In the operation of looms equipped with such wires, it is possible to obtain only a relatively few variations in loop height and, in fabrics made by the use of wavy top wires, the lengths of the pile yarns in loops of different height vary in twist, so that the loops vary in appearance and durability and some of the highest loops are made of lengths of yarn of the lowest twist and thus have the poorest wearing qualities. However, woven pile fabrics having loops of different height and made on pile wire looms enjoy wide popularity because of their attractive surface appearance.

Pile fabrics made by tufting operations can be produced much more rapidly and at much less cost than the woven pile fabrics described above but, up to the present, such tufted pile fabrics have ordinarily had tufts of one height only. The prior tufted pile fabrics have, accordingly, suffered from the monotonous appearance of their pile surfaces, although that handicap has been compensated for by their relatively low cost of manufacture.

The present invention is directed to the provision of a novel tufted loop pile fabric, which affords the advantages of an attractive pile containing loops of different height and of the relatively low manufacturing cost of fabrics made by tufting operations. The new fabric may contain loops of a large number of heights, for example, ten, and the loops are arranged in cycles extending lengthwise of the fabric with the cycles of loops in adjacent yarns ordinarily being out of phase. The method of the invention involves conventional tufting operations together with novel steps in the feeding of the yarns, which produce the desired effects, and the new tufting machine includes the usual tufting mechanisms and new means for feeding the pile yarns and varying the rate of feed in cycles.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which.

Fig. l .is a diagrammatic view in side elevation of a tufting machine embodying the invention;

atent ice Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view showing portions of the tufting machine;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic exploded longitudinal sectional view through one form of the new fabric;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic longitudinal view showing a cycle of pile loops different from the cycle employed in the fabric illustrated in Fig. 3; and

Figs. 5l0, incl., are diagrammatic elevational views showing the action of a needle and a looper of the tufting machine.

The pile fabric of the invention comprises a backing sheet 12, which may be made of any suitable material and is usually a woven fabric of substantial weight. Pile yarns 13 are inserted through the backing sheet in a tufting operation to form the loops of a pile, in which the loops are arranged in rows extending lengthwise and transversely of the fabric. The loops in each lengthwise row are all made of the same yarn and these loops vary in height in cycles. The cycles of loop height in adjacent yarns are out of phase so that, in the transverse rows, the loops vary in height and, ordinarily, the height of the loops in each transverse row varies cyclically. The number of loops of a yarn in a cycle extending lengthwise of the fabric can be varied by varying the manner of feeding the yarn to the needle in the tufting operation, and the number of loops in the cycles in the transverse rows of loops can also be varied by varying the feeding of the yarns.

The fabric shown in Fig. 3 has a pile, in which each pile yarn, such as the yarn 13a, forms loops of heights varying in cycles in which the loop height increases from a minimum to a maximum and then decreases to a minimum. The cycle in yarn 13:: consists of five loops and the loops in the adjacent pile yarn 131; also vary in height in cycles of five loops, as do the loops in the yarn 13c. The next yarn 13d has loops varying in a cycle of live loops and the cycles in yarn 13d are in phase with those in yarn 13a, while the cycles in yarns 13b and 13c are out of phase with each other and with the cycles of loops of yarns 13a and 13d.

A tufting machine suitable for the production of the fabric is shown diagrammatically in Fig. l as including the usual frame structure generally designated 14, in which is mounted a feed roll assembly 15 for drawing the backing sheet 12 from a supply roll SR. The sheet is advanced over the top of a table 16, where the tufting takes place, by a take-up roll assembly 17 and the tufted fabric 13 is then wound to form a roll TR. The roll assemblies are driven through chains 19, 2G by a motor 21, which also drives through a chain 22 a shaft 23 supported in bearings in standards 24 rising above the table 16. The shaft carries eccentrics 25 operating push rods 26 attached to a needle bar 27 and reciprocating it vertically. The needle bar extends transversely of table 16 and carries a plurality of needles 23 and a pile yarn guide 29 adjacent each needle.

The pile yarns 13 are drawn from individual packages in a creel and fed to the needles 2% by sets of feed rolls mounted in a frame generally designated 39 and secured to the uprights 24. The machine illustrated includes three sets of rolls each feeding a group of yarns and the yarns in the three groups are supplied to the needles in intermingled arrangement. Preferably, the distribution of the yarns in the groups is uniform, so that the first, fourth, seventh, etc. needles starting at one end of the needle bar are supplied with yarns in one group. The second, fifth, eighth, etc. needles receive yarns in the second group, and the third, sixth, ninth, etc. needles receive yarns in the third group. With the yarns fed as described, the height of the loops in each transverse row varies in cycles of three loops.

individual needles 28.

about sprocket wheels on the shafts.

The set of feed rolls for the group of yarns represented by yarn 13a comprises aroll 31 mounted in bearings in the frame 39 and provided'with an eccentric sprocket wheel 32 "meshing with a similar eccentric sprocket Wheel 33 on a shaft 3'4 mounted in hearings on frame 36. A roll 35 is mounted for rotation in hearings in a pair of arms 36 pivotally attached to the frame 39 and rests on top of roll 31. The yarns 13a being fed by rolls 3 35 pass from the creel over the top ofroll 35, between the rolls, and around roll 31 to guides 37 carried on the frame structure of the machine. The yarns then pass to another set of guides 38 mounted on the structure and then to the guides29 associated with In the'fabric shown'in Fig. 4, the yarn 13d is in the same group as 'the'yarn 13d and fed by the same feed rolls.

The yarns 13b of the second group are fed by a set of feed rolls including a roll 39 mounted for rotation in fixed bearings in frame 39 and arch as, which is mounted in bearings in arms 41 pivoted on frame and rests on top of roll Roll 39 is provided with an eccentric sprocket wheel 42 meshing with an eccentric sprocket wheel 43 on shaft 44 supported for rotation in bearings on frame 39. The yarns 131') are led from the creel and pass over roll '49, between rolls and 39, and then around roll 39 to guides 37 and 38. From the latter guides, the yarns-pass to the guides 29 associated with respective needles 28.

The yarns 130 of the third group are fed to the needlesby a roll 45 mounted for rotation in fixed bearyarns 130 are fed by their feed rolls in the same man nor as yarns 13a and 13b.

The shaft 34 is driven from shaft 23 through a chain 51 trained about sprocket wheels on the two shafts and shaft 44 is driven from shaft 34 by a chain 52 trained Similarly, shaft 44 is connected to shaft 59 by a chain 53.

in the production of the fabric shown in Fig. 3, the arns in the three groups typified by the yarns 13a, 13]), ad 130 are fed by their respective sets of feed rolls to the needles, which insert the yarns through the backing fabric 12 and, in cooperation with the loopers 54, form loops of the yarns projecting downwardly throughthe backing. The needles and loopers operate cyclically and their operation is made clear in Figs. 5 -10, incl.

In Fig. 5, a needle is shown at the top of its movement and the looper 54 associated with the needle is shown as having its inserted through the loop of yarn 13 previously inserted through the backing 12. As the needle starts to move downward (Pig. 6), the looper begins to swing clockwise to release the. loop and, when the needle has started to pierce the fabric (Fig. 7), the looper has completed its movement to the right out of the path of travel of the needle. "As the needle is approaching its downmost position (Fig. 8), the looper is swinging counterclockwise, so that its hook passes between the needle and the loop of yarn extending through the eye of the needle and carried through the fabric by the needle. When the needle begins to rise (Fig. 9), the hook of the looper has fully entered the loop of yarn and die loop is retained as the needle rises and leaves the cloth (Fig. 10). l /hen the needle'reaches its hi hest position, as shown in Fig. 5, the sequenc'e'of operations is repeated.

to the needles. hesurfacespeed'of'each driven feed 7 roll varies at different angular positions of the roll, because of its being driven through a pair of eccentric gears, and the length of each yarn, that is fed by a set offeed rolls during the rotation of the driven roll of the set 7 through a given arc depends, of course, on the surface speed of the roll as it travels through that are. In the new machine, the surface speed of the feed rolls is so,

loop,part of the yarn required'for that loop is pulled out of the preceding loop of that yarn inserted through the backing. Accordingly, each loop of yarn inserted through the fabric is initially of maximum height as shown at 130, but may be reduced in height as the next following loop is formed. The amount, by which the height of a .loop is thus reduced, depends on die rate at which the yarn in that loop is being fed by the feed rolls during the insertion ofthe nextloop of the yarn through the backing.

In the fabric illustrated in Fig. 3, the loops of pile yam vary in height in a cycle of five loops, of which the loop 132 is the highest and the loop 131 the lowest. number of loops of a yarn in a cycle depends on the circumferential dimension of the feed roll feeding that yarn to its needle and an increase in the circumference of the feed roll. increases the number of loops in a cycle. Thus, in the production of the fabric shown in Fig. 4, the feed roll feeding the yarn 13 was driven by eccentric gearing and was of such a diameter that the yarn was formed into loops in a cycle of eighteen loops in gradual steps from a minimum to a maximum and back to a minimum.

In the tufting machine described, the rolls feeding the pile yarn are driven by eccentric gearing, but other driving means may be employed Thus, the rolls may be driven by elliptical, triangular, or square gears, or they may be driven under, the control of'pattern means by individual variable speed drives or individual variable speed electric motors. When gearing is employed, the changes in surface speed of the feed rolls are repeated during each revolution of the rolls and, accordingly, the loops in a cycle are made of yarn fed during a single revolution of the feed rolls. When the feed 'rolls are driven under the control of pattern means, it is not necessary that the variations in surface speed of the feed rolls be the same in successive revolutions of the rolls, although the sequence in variations of surface speed of the feed rolls is the same during each repeat in 'the'action of the pattern means. i

The pattern produced in the pile of the new fabric by the high and low loops can be varied in a number of Ways, as, for example, by varying the number of loops in a cycle, varying the phase relation between the cycles of loops in adjacent yarns, and varying the distribution transversely of the fabric of the yarns fed by different sets of feed rolls. Another variation in the pattern can be obtained by employing a number of sets of feed rolls,

other than three, operating out of phase so that the cycles of loops can be ofiset,"if desired, by phase angles equal to 360 divided by the number of sets offeed rolls.

I claim:

. in a tufting machine having-a plurality of reciprocating needles for inserting pile yarns into a backing sheet, means for releasably holdingthe pile yarns inserted into the backing sheet to form loops, a plurality of rotatable A length of yarn fed to its needle by a set of The yarn feed rolls each arranged to feed a group of the pile yarns to a group of said needles, each of said yarn feed rolls having a driven gear fixed for rotation therewith with the center of the gear being eccentric to the axis of rotation of its respective feed roll, each of said 5 driven gears having a drive gear meshing therewith with the center of the drive gear being eccentric to its axis of rotation, and means for driving said drive gears to cause each yarn feed roll to advance its respective group of yarns to their respective needles at continuously vary- 10 ing rates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kleutgen Ian. 14, Dykeman Nov. 10, Hermann June 14, Gladish May 2, Gladish May 16, Miller Dec. 31, Case Oct. 17, 

